Sligo 1-9 Mayo 1-7
Sligo stunned reigning Connaught champions Mayo at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence in Bekan on Sunday as they sent last season’s All-Ireland minor semi-finalists packing at the first hurdle.
Despite a bright start from Mayo, with Cian McHale scoring four points for his side, they never made full use of the wind advantage they had and Sligo made them pay, with a goal from Adam Gallagher on the stroke of half-time seeing the Yeats County lead 1-5 to 0-6.
McHale brought the gap back to one early in the second half but Sligo sent over the next four points with Luke Marren grabbing a brace of points as well as Ciarán O’Reilly and Dylan Walsh (free).
Mayo ended a 25-minute scoreless spell with a Sam Callinan goal to set up a tense finale but Sligo held on for a deserved triumph. They will meet Roscommon in the final following their victory over Galway.
Sligo: J Lundy, L Casserly, R Kelly, J Kiernan, Z Mahon, C O'Reilly (0-2), M Hegarty, D O'Boyle, B Byrne, D Foy, L Marren (0-3), C Mulligan, D. Walsh (0-3f), C Oates, A Gallagher (1-1).
Mayo: B. O'Flaherty, C. McHale, F. Kelly, M MacEvilly, S. Dempsey, R. Hughes, C. Boland, S Callinan (1-1), B Tuohy, D. Cosgrove, C McHale (0-5, (3f), C Donohue, C Bourke, E Hughes, M Gibbons (0-1).
Referee: T Murphy (Galway).
